Now in its 20th year, the National Cattlemens Beef Associations (NCBA) Cattlemens College® has established a reputation as one of the most thorough cattle producer education programs in the nation. Sponsored by Zoetis Animal Health, the 2013 edition of Cattlemens College® began last night with participants being treated to great Florida hospitality and an exciting ranch horse competition at the Florida State Fairgrounds. Today, Cattlemens College® students heard from an outstanding lineup of industry experts.

Cattlemens College® offers a wide range of informative, one of a kind hands-on workshops designed for cattle operations of every size and sector. Class began bright and early today with a keynote address by internationally respected futurist Dr. Lowell Catlett, who spoke about the resiliency of the beef industry and the people who work in it. Catlett also provided his predictions for the long range outlook for the agricultural industry, along with factors that influence profitability and sustainability of beef cattle production.

No matter what is thrown at us, we just get up in the morning and go to work, said Catlett. The resiliency of the human spirit is amazing. People matter, and the beef industry needs to be ready for tremendous changes to come.

Todays sessions included a cattle market update presented by CattleFax, along with sessions on preserving family relations on the ranch, weather predictions for 2013 and beyond, consumer attitudes toward beef and beef production, how to cope with drought and high feed prices, animal welfare issues and how to identify risk factors that affect cattle producers bottom line.

Allen Moczygemba, director of the beef segment of the U.S. Cattle and Equine Team with Zoetis Animal Health, said that the company saw a need for more educational programs for cattle producers.

Twenty years ago, cattle producers needed access to information they didnt have, said Moczygemba. Years later there is still a hunger and desire for more information. U.S. beef producers want to become better at what they do, and they are constantly striving to improve. Cattlemens College provides them with the tools to achieve that.

With so many events taking place during the convention all attendees are encouraged to download the 2013 Cattle Industry Convention app to their smart phones to see the schedule of events, locations, maps and receive alerts before, during and after the event. Visit www.beefusa.org for more information about the convention, and follow NCBA on Facebook and Twitter.